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^,.-|- ^REMARKS 

OF s^--^ 

HON. DANIEL WEBSTER, 

In the Senaie of the United States, June 17, 1850. Together with Mr. Websterh 
Letter to Robert H. Gardiner, esq., and other citizens of Maine. 



The Senaie having under consideration the Compromise bill, the pending question being an 

amendment offered by Mr. Soule, of Louisiana: ^- 

Mr. WEBSTER said: 

On the 7th of March, sir, I declared my opinion to be, that there is not a square rod of twritory 
belonging to the United Slates, the character of which, fOr slavery or no slavery, is not already 
fixed by some irrepealable law. I remain of that opinion. The opinion, sir, has been a good deal 
canvassed in the country, and there have been complaints — sometimes respectful and decorous, 
and sometimes so loud and .so empty as to become mere clamor. But I have met with no argu- 
ment upon any question of law embraced in that opinion, which shakes the firmness with which 
I hold it, nor have I heard any discu.ssion upon any matter of fact, as to that part of the opinion 
which rests on facts, which leads me to doubt the accuracy of my conclusions as to that part of 
the opinion which regarded the true construction, or I might with more propriety say, almost 
the literal meaning, of the resolutions by which Texas was admitted into the Union. I have 
heard no argument calculated, in the slightest degree, to alter that opinion. The committee, I 
believe, with one accord, concurred in it. A great deal of surprise, real or affected, has been 
expressed in the country at the announcement by me of that opinion, as if there were some- 
thing new in it. Yet there need have been no surprise, for there was nothing new in it. Other 
gentlemen have expressed the same opinion more than once; and 1 myself, in a speech made 
here on the 2.3d day of March, 1848. expressed the same opinion, almost in the same words, 
with which nobody here found any fault; at which nobody here cavilled or made question, and 
not)ody in the country. 

With respect to the other ground on which my opinion is founded, that is, the high improbabi- 
lity, in point of foct, that African slavery could' be introduced and established in any of the Ter- 
ritories acquired by us in pursuance of the late treaty with Mexico, I have learned nothing, 
heard nothing, from that day to this, that has not entirely confirmed that opinion. That being 
my judgment on this matter, I voted very readily and cheerfully to exclude what is called the 
Wijmot Proviso from these Territorial bills, or to keep it out, rather, when a motion was made 
to introduce it 1 did so, upon a very full and deep cciuviction that no act of Congress, no pro- 
vision of law, vVas necessary in any degree for that purpose; that there were natural and suffi- 
cient reasons and causes excluding forever .African slavery from those regions. That was my 
judgment, and I acted on it; and it is my judgment still. Those who think differently, will, of 
course, pursue a different line of conduct, in accordance with their own judgments. That was 
my opinion then, and it has been strenwihened by every thins; that 1 have learned since, and I 
have no more apprehension to-day of the introduction or establishment of African slavery in 
these I'erritories, than I have of its introduction into, and establishment in, Massachusetts. 

Well, sir, I have voted not to place in these Territorial bills what is called the Wilmot Pro- 
viso, and by that vote having signified a disposition to exclude the prohibition, as a thing unne- 
cessary, I am now called upon to vote upon this amendment, moved by the honorable member 
from Louisiana, (Mr. Soule,) which provides that the States torined outof New Mexicoand Utah 
shall have the right and privilege of making their own constitutions, and of presenting those 
constitutions to Congress conformably to the Constitution of the United States, with or without 
a prohibition against slavery, as the people of those Territories, about to become States, may 
see fit to declare. I have not seen much practical utility in this amendment, I agree. Never- 
theless, if I should vote, now that it is presented to me, against it, it might leave me open to 
Gideon & Co., Printers. 



B 



2 



V^ 



suspicion of intending, or wishing, to see that accomplished in another way hereafter, which I 
did not choose to see accomplished liy tlie introduction of the Wilmot Proviso. That is lo say, 
it mieht seem as if, voting against that form of exclusion or prohibition, I might be willing still 
that there should be a chance hereafter to enforce it in some other way- Now, I think that in- 
genuousness and steadiness of purpose, under these circumstances, compel me lo voie for the 
amendment, and I shall vote for it. I do it exactly on the same grounds that I voted against the 
introduction of the proviso. And let it be remembered, that I am now speaking of New Mexi- 
co and Utah, and other tei-ritories acquirfd from Mexico; and of nothing else. I confine ray- 
self to these ; and, as to them, I say, that I see no occasion to make a provision against slavery 
now, or to reserve to ourselves the right of making such [irovision hereafter. All this re.'sls on 
the most thorough conviction that, under the law of nature, there never can be slavery in these 
Territories. This is the foundation of all. And I voted against the proviso, and I vote now in 
favor of this amendment, for the reason that all restriction.'^ are unnecessary, absolutely unne- 
cessary; and as such restrictions give offence, and create a kind of resentment, as they cause a 
degree of dissatisfaction, and as I desire to avoid all dissatisfaction as far as I can, by avoiding 
all measures that cause it, and which are in my iu4£;ms"t wholly unnecessarv, I shall vote now 
as I voted on a former occasion, and shall support the amendment oflered by. the honorable 
member from Louisiana. I repeat again, I do it upon the exact grounds upon which I dtcluied, 
upon the 7th dav of March, that 1 should resist the Wilmot Proviso — the precise grounds. 

Sir, it does not seem to strike other Senators as it strikes me,, but if there be any qualification 
to that general remark which I made, or the opinion which I expressed on the 7ih of March, 
that every foot of territory of the United States has a fixed character for slavery or no slavery ; 
if there be any qualification to that remark, it has arisen here, from what seems to be an indis- 
position to define the boundaries of New Mexico; that is all the danger there is. All that is 
part of Texas was by the resolutions of 1845 thrown under the general character of Texan ter- 
ritory ; and if, for want of defining ttie boundaries of New Mexico by any proceeding or pro- 
cess hereafter, or by any event hereafter, let me say 'o gentlemen, that if any portion which 
they or I do not believe to be Texas should be considered to become Texas, then, so far, that 
qualification of my remark is applicable. And therefore, 1 do feel, as I had occasion to say two 
or three days ago, that it is of the utmost importance to pass this bill, to the end that there may 
be a definitive boundary, fixed now, and fixed forever, between the territory of New Mexico 
and Texas, or the limits of New Mexico and the limits of Texas. Here the question lies. 
If gentlemen wish to act efficiently for their own purposes, here it is, in my poor judgment, that 
they are called upon to act. And the thing to be done, and done at once, is to fix the l>ounda- 
ries of New Mexico. 

Mr. President, when I see gentlemen from my own pari of the country, no doubt from mo- 
tives of the highest character, "and for most conscientious purposes, not concurring in any of 
these great questions with myself, I am aware that I am taking on myself an uncommon degree 
of responsibility. The fact that gentlemen with whom I have been accustomed to act in the 
Senate took a difTerent view of their own duties in the same case, naturally led me to reconsider 
my own course, to re-examine my own opinions, to re-judge my own judgment. And now, 
sir, that 1 have gone through this process, without prejudice, as I hope— and certainly I have 
done so imder the greatest feeling of regret, at being called upon by a sense of duty to take a 
course which may dissatisfy some to whom 1 should always be desirous of rendering my pub- 
lic course and every event and action of my public life acceptable — yet I cannot part from my 
own settled opinions. I leave consequences to themselves. It is a great emergency, a great 
exigency that this country is placed in. I shall endeavor to preserve a proper regard to my 
own consistency ; but I shall, nevertheless, perform what ! believe to be a high duty, proi\iptly 
and fearlessly. And here let me say, that neither ]tre nor elsewhere has any thing been ad- 
vanced to show that on this subject I have said or done any thing inconsi.steilt, in the slightest 
degree, with any speech, or sentiment, or letter, or declaration that I ever delivered in my life ; 
and all would be convinced of this, if men would stop to consider, and look at real differences 
and distinctions. But where all is general denunciation, where all is clamor, where all is idle 
and empty declamation, where there is no search after exact truth, no honest disposition to in- 
Cjuire whether one opinion is different from the other— why, every body, in that way of proceed- 
ing, may be proclaimed to be inconsistent. 

Now, sir, I do not take the trouble to answer things of this sort that appear in the public 
press. I know it would be useless. Those who are of an unfriendly disposition would not 
publish my explanations or distinctions, if I were to, make them. But, sir, if any gentle- 
man here has any thing to say on this subject- though I throw out no challenge— yet, if any 
gentleman here chooses to undertake the task— and many there possibly are, who think it an 
easy task — to show in what respect any thing that I said in debate here on the 7th of Maph, or 
any thing contained in my letter to the gentlemen of Newburyport, or any where else, is incon- 
sistent with any recorded opinion of nrine, since the subject of the annexation of Texas began 
in 1837, r will certainly answer him with great respect and courtesy, and shall be contertt to 
Btand or fall by the judgment of the country. 



Sir, my object is peace. My object, is reconciliation. My purpose is, not to make up a case 
for the North, or to make up a case for the South. My object is not to continue useless and 
irritating controver-sies. I am against agitators, North and South. I am against local ideas, 
North and Snuth, and ag-ainsi all narrow and local contests. I am an American, and I know 
n> locality in America tluit is my country. My heart, my sentiments, my judgment, demand 
of me that I shall pursue such a course as shall promote the good, and the harmony, and the 
Union of the whole country. This I shall do, God willing, to the end of the chapter. 

The honurabie Senator resumed his seat amidst general applause from the gallery. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 
To THE Hon. Daniel Webster: 

The subscribers, inhabitants of the cities and towns on Kennebec river, though not your im- 
mediate constituents, yet, as citizens of our common Republic, cannot refrain from expressing 
to you the deep'sense of the obligation which you have conferred upon the whole country, by 
your recent effort in the Senate of the United States to allay the spirit of sectional strife which 
threatened the destruction of our Union. No cont"ederate I States, either in ancient or modern 
times, have been preserved from intestine commotion and civil war. If, as some suppose, we 
are confederated States, still we are only an exception to the general rule, and it is but a short 
time since that the slavery question threatened to bring those evds upon us; and should the 
South and the North be separated, no human wisdom could predict the evils that would follow. 
We have been induced to offer this expression of our feelings from observing the obloquy cast 
upon you by a portion of the press in this State. The press may convey the excited feelings 
of the moment, but those feelings frequently arise from an ardent desire to effect what is deemed 
a great good, irrespeciive of consequences; but we teel confident that reflecting minds, and those 
which permanently guide public opinion, will eventually have their influence, and that the patri- 
otism.and courage of that statesman will be generally acknowledged, who, regardless of conse- 
quences to himself, l)oldly threw himself into the breach, and brought back his coumrymen to 
feel the invaluable blessings of the Union, and the duty imposed upon tiiem for its preservation. 

Gardiner, April, 1850. 



R. FT. Gardiner, 
A. T. Perkins, 
Samuel B. Tarbox, 
H. Tupper, 

John Merrick, 
Jesse Aikin, 
W. S. Marshall, 
C. H. Strickland, 
Eben Horn, 



William Woart, 
J. J. Eveleth, 
Allen Lambert, 
G. W. Stanley, 

Wra. Led yard 
Ebenezer Clap, 
J. C. L. Booker, 
J. H. McLellan, 
William Morse, 



John P. Hunter, 
Wm. H. Byram, 
Benjamin Shaw, 
G. W. Bachelder 



Jas. Sherburne, 
A. Pease, 
Peter Atherton, 
J. S. P. Dument, 
•V. M. Vaughn. 



Hanson Baker, 
J. A Thompson, 
D. VVilliams, 
William Bryan, 



Jonathan Hyde, 
Gilbert Trufant, 
Henry Hyde, 
B. C. Baijey, 
John E. Brown, 



E. G. Byram, 

F. Allen, f 
F. P. Theobald, 

, F. K. Swan, 

Hallowell. 

Thos. B. Brooks, 
James C. Dwight, 
J. Gardner, 
T. M. Andrews, 

AuGDSTA. 

Thos. Lambert, 
Geo. W. Morton, 
D. C. Stan wood, 
Jonathan Hedge, 

Bath. 

J. W. Ellingwood, 
Geo. F. Patten. 
R. H. McKown, 
Thos. M. Reed, 
F. Clark, 



Edward Swan, 
L. Clay, 

Saiiiuel C. Grant, 
Arthur Berry. 

Rufus R. Page, 
John Johnson, 
S Davenport, 
F. Glazier, 



Henry Williams, 
James Bridge, 
Cyrus Briggs, 
David Fales. 



Wm. D. Sewell, 
John Patten, 
John H. KiinbalL, 
Alden Morse, 
Wm. M. Roirers. 



Reply of Mr . Webster. 

Washington, June 17, 1B50. 

Gentlemen: Your friendly and acceptable letter of April was received. 

It is true, gentlemen, that I have made an effort in the Senate " to allay the spirit of sectional 
strife, which has threatened the destruction of our Union;" and such efforts i shall continue to 
make, earnestly, and with whatever ability 1 possess, under a deep conviction that that "spirit 
of sectional strife," if not checked, will ere long drive the country into a lamentable and disas- 
trous condition. It is exceedingly to be regretted, that any part of tlie public press in the State 



in which you reside, or elsewhere, should discourao^e, and, as it often does, denounce all attempts 
at reconciliation and peace; and should contribute, by its daily effusions, to promote ill-will, re- 
sentment, and angry contests between the North and South. That all' this is done by a por- 
tion of the press, both North and South, is but too true. The conductors of these presses would 
seem to have lost all sense of ii common country, a'l sentiments of patriotism, unless there may 
be patriotism in those local feelings, in which the great Father of his Country s« alTectionately 
admonished us never to indulge. That the coniluclors of these presses mistake the opinions of 
the people, to a very considerable extent, 1 doubt not; but wliile they are so- active and so 
zealous, who ca* tell how far, or how fast, their sentiments may sprraii.' 

It is no longer to be doubted, that there are persons bo;h in the North and in the South, who 
are opposed to the existence of the )irescnt Constitution of the United States, and would gladly 
see it brought to an end. Some in both extremes openly avow this wish, and others conceal it 
under very thin disguises. Nevertheless, the great body of the people. North and South, are 
firmly attached to the Union; their hearts ;u-e for it, and with it, and they will defend it against 
ail open attempts for its overthrow. This is my decided opinion. The Urnon, therefore, we 
may hope, will not be rudely broken up; but this spirit of sectional strife, if it be not effectually 
rebuked, will produce mfinite mischiefs, by embarrassing the Government, thwarting and de- 
feating useful legislation, and increasing, more and more, feelings of discord and alienation. 
Who does not see, already, the alarming consequences provoked and produced by these dissen- 
sions.-' We are now in the seventh inonth of the session of Congress, and what hiis lieen done.' 
Even the ordinary annual appropriation bills have not been brought forward, or advanced a sin- 
gle stage. They are at least four months liehind the proper time. It has at last become indis- 
pensably necessary, it seems to me, that men of sense and intelligence, who are really lovers of 
their country and its Union, should open their eyes to the state of things. There will be, there 
must be, it is in the naiure of tljings that there should be, some shock, some cessation in the 
movemetit of the Government, some disreputable irregularity, now not fiir ahead, unless the 
good men of the country, in all its parts, will rou.se themselves to the performance of the "duties 
which the exigency demands. 

While so many persons and so many presses in "the North maintain sndi loud and bitter 
C(miplaints against the Simth, and while so many persons and so many presses in the South 
utter complaints equally loud and bitter asainst the North, neither the North nor the South 
states, definitely atid precisely, any actual grievanc(\ such as could justify, in any reasonable 
man's o|)inion, the most distant idea of disunion. For the most part, these mutual complaints 
are general, indeterminate, uttered in angry terms, but placed on no specific ground. In the 
speech to which your letter refers, I have mentioned what i think to be the real ground of mu- 
tual or reciprocal complaint; but, beyond all these, there is kept up a general cry of one party 
against the other, that its rights are invaded, its honor insulted, its character assailed, and its 
just participation in political power denied. Sngacious men cannot but sus|>ect, from all this, 
that more is intended than is avowed; and that there lies at the bottom a purpose of the separa- 
tion of the States, for reasons avowed or disavowed, or for grievances redressed or unredressed. 
This purpose, be it remembered, I do not consider os pervading large masses, but of its existence 
among tlie Exlremisls, on both sides, I cannot entertain a question. 

In the speech to which you refer, it was my purpose, among other things, to show that a 
peaceable secession of some States from the rest, or a peaceable separation of them all, was 
aiYiong the most improbable of imaginable events ; that nature, the seas, the gulfs, the lakes, 
and the rivers, bound us together by ties nearly impossible to be broken; that no tnan could 
make any plan of secession or separation satisfactory to others; and, more than all, that no 
man could discern any thing as likely to arise to any State, from secession or separation, not 
fraught with political evil of every description, and every degree. And notwithstanding the 
influence and the opinions of which I have spoken, 1 believe that the sentiments of the great 
mass of Southern men concur with my own. Many have contemplated separation as a probable 
result; some certainly have desired, and do desire it; but, so fiir as I have observed, when the 
question is put directly home to the people, notwithstanding whatever certain presses and cer- 
tain politicians say to the contrary, the people of the South are still for the Union by immense 
majorities. Wherever there is a truly American heart, the love of the Union is entwined in its 
iiUTiost fibres. It is our duty to encourage and applaud this popular feeling ; to respect it our- 
selves, and to take care that, by no denial of justice, by no unnecessary di.scussion of exciting 
but abstract questions, by no threat or menace to interfire loitli what, does not belong to us, we do 
not weaken that attachment to the Union which is so indispensable to the happiness of all. 
And what is the duty of the North, in this respect, is equally the duty of the South. All sides 
are called on to exercise a far greater degree of forbeanmce and modriation, if we mean to trans- 
mit to the next generation the blessings enjoyed by this. 

I shall do all I can to warn the country against" the dangers of this intestine strife; to call 
both the South and the North back to a sense of their true duties and their true interests. And 
if I cannot allay the evil, I shall at least do nothing to promote it. I shall do nothing lo cause 
jealousy, heartburning, and animosity, among those whose country is one, whose interests are 



one, and whose destiny, whatever any of them may think of it, is, in my opinion, one ; one 
now, and one hereafter. 

Gentlemen, one of the excitins: questions of the present moment respects the necessity of ex- 
cluding slavery, by law, from the territories lately acquired from Mexico. If I believed in any 
such necessity, I should, of course, support such a law. I could not do otherwise, consistently 
with opinions very many times expressed, and which opinions I have no inclination to change, 
and shall not change. But I do not believe in any such necessity. I have studied the geogra- 
phy of New Mexico diligently, having read all that I could find in print, and inquired of many 
intelligent persons who have been in the country, travirsed it, and become familiar with it. ' 

New Mexico may be considered as divided into two parts : one lying on the oast side of the 
Rio Grande, below the Paso del Norte — this is claimed by Texas; the other extends along the 
river, on both .sides, from Paso del Norte to the forty-second degree of north latitude, or the 
boundary of Oregon. Of this part, also, that which lies on the eastei-n side of the river is 
claimed tiy Texas. The whole extent of both parts can hardly be less than one thousand 
miles, and by the windings of the river much more. The southern part is far less mountainous 
than the northern ; it has, nevertheless, mountain peaks and mountain ridges. From San An- 
tonio de Bf xar, which is a hundred miles north of the Gulf of Mexico, and near the western 
line of the actual settlements in Texas, it is five hundred and .seventy miles to Paso del Norte, 
by a track or road, recently explored, keeping east of the Rio del Norte, and south of the Gua- 
dalupe mountains; the general direction of which road is west by north. This whole country 
is of very little value. The 'mountains are barren, and a great portion of the more level country 
is a mere desert of rocks and SHiid. Sometime.^ prairies are met with, producing grass in more 
or less abundance; but the decisive and fatal characteristic of the country is the want of water. 
In traversing this region, travellers not unfrequently find themselves without water for twenty 
or thirty miles, and sometimes even for longer distances. 1 think an exploring expedition, 
which within the last year pas.sed along this route, found no water for seventy miles. It 
may be truly said, that here is a country of six hundred miles in extent, which, in its general 
character, must be described as a barren desert. I agree, that in a considerable part of this 
desert, African slave labor is not necessarily excluded by the law of climate ; the climate is mild 
enough ; but, then, all labor, free or slave, all cultivation whatever, is excluded, for nil time, by 
the sterility of the soil, throughout th s vast arid region. There may be trifling exceptions 
here and there on the banks of some of the streams ; but the general character, without doubt, 
or question, is such as I have represented it. Major Gaines, a very intelligent gentleman, lately 
a member of Congress, and now Governor of Oregon, traversed a part of this country during 
the Mexican war, and this is his description of it : 

"The country, from the Nueces to the valley of the Rio Grande, is poor, sterile, sandy and 
barren, with not a single tree of any size or value on our whole route. The only tree which 
we saw was the musquit tree, and very few of these. The musquit is a small tree, resem- 
bling an old and decayed peach tree. The whole country may be truly called a perfect waste, 
uninhabited and uninhabitable. There is not a drop of running water between the two rivers] 
except in the two small streams of San Salvador and Santa Gtirt'rudus, and these only contain 
water in the rainy season. Neither of them had running water when we passed them. The 
chaparral commences within forty or fifty miles of the Riii Grande. This is poor, rocky, and 
sandy; covered with prickly pear, thistles, and almost every sticking thing, constituting a thick 
and perfectly impenetrable undergrowth. For any useful or agricultural purpose the country is 
not worth a sows. 

" So far as we are able to form any opinion of this desert upon the other routes which had 
been travelled, its character, everywhere between the two rivers, is pretty much the same. We 
learned that the route pursued by General Taylor south of ours, was thiough a country similar 
to that through which we passed ; as also was that travelled by General Wool from San Anto- 
nio to Presidio, on the Rio Grande. From what we both saw and heard, the whole command 
came to the conclusion which I have already expresseil, that it was worth nothing I have no 
hesitation in saying, that I would not hazard the life of one valuable and useful man for every 
foot of land between San Patricio and the valley of the Rio Grande. The country i.s not now, 
and can never be, of the slightest vnlue.'" 

The most lamented and distinguished gentleman and olficer, the late Colontl Hardin, of Illi- 
nois, entirely concurs with Major Gaines. Here is his account: 

" The ivkolc country is miserublij watered. Large districts have no water at all. The streams are 
small, and at gnat distances apart. One day we ma died, on the road from Monclova to Parras, 
thirty-Jive miles without loater ; a pretty severe day's march for infantry. 

"Grass IS very scarce ; and, indeed, there is none at all in many regions for miles square. 
Its place is supplied with |)rickly pear and tlim-ny bushes. There is not one acre m two hun- 
dred — more probably not one in five hundied — of all the land we have seen in Mexico, winch 
can ever be cultivated ; the greater part of it is the most desolate region I could ever have inia- 



* 6 

gined. The pure granite hiils of New England are a paradise to it, for they are without the 
thorny briars and venomous reptiles which infest the barbed barrenness of Mexico. The good 
land and cultivated spots in Mexico are but dots on the map. Were it not that it takes so very 
little to support a Mexican, and tliat the Irmd which is cultivated yields its produce wiih little 
labor, it would be surprising how us sparse population is sustained. All the towns we have 
visited, with, perhaps, theexceplion of Parras, are dcpnpulaiing, as is also the whole country." 

The country higher up, that is, along the Rio del Norte, from Paso del Norte to Sar.ta Fe and 
Taos, is different in this respect. Tlirouijh this part of New Mexico the river runs between im- 
mense mouniams, with strips or ribands of land along its banks, not always c uninunus, hut 
which are cultivated with grains, but only by means of irrigation. Allow me, gentlemen, to 
lay before you the creditable, the exact, (he authoritative description given by Air. Smith, the 
delegate from New Mexico: 

"New Mexico is an. exceedingly mounlainous country, Santa Fe itself being twice as high 
as the highest p unt of the Alle^liaiiies, and nearly all the land capabli> of cultivation is of equal 
height, though some of the valleys have le.-s altitude above the sea. The country is cold. Its 
general agricultural products are wheat and corn, and such vegetables as grow in the Northern 
Sta'es of this Union. It is entirely unsuited for slave labor. Labor is exceedingly abundaiit 
and cheap. It may be hired for three or four dollars per month, in quantity quite sufficient for 
carrying: on all the agriculture of the Territory. There is no cultivation except by irrigation, 
and there is not a sufficiency of water to irriijaie all the land. 

" As to the existence, at present, of slavery in New Mexico, it is the general understanding 
that it has been altogether abolished by the laws of Mexico; but we have no established tribu- 
nals which have proimunced, as yet, whai the law of the land in this respect is. It is universal- 
ly considered, however, that the Territory is altogether a free Territory. I know of no per- 
sons in the couiury who are treated as slaves, except such as may be servants to gentlemen 
visiting or passing through the country. I may add that the stronges-t feeling against slavery 
universally prevails through the whole Territory, and 1 suppose it quite impossible to convey it 
there, and maintain it by any means whatever." 

My speech was delivered on the 7lh of March. Speaking of what I thought the impossibil- 
ity of the existence of African slavery in New Mexico, I said: " 1 would not take pains use- 
lessly to reaffirm an ordinance of naiuie, or to re-enact the will of God." Everybody knew 
that, by the "will of God," 1 meant that expression of the divine purpose in the worfc of crea- 
tion which had given such a physical formation to the earth, in tins region, as necessarily to 
exclude African slavery from it forever. Everybody knew I meant this, and meant nothing e'se. 
To represent me as speaking in any other sense was gross injustice. Yet a pamphlet has been 
put into circulation, in which it is said that my remark is "underlakins; to settle by mountains 
and rivers, and not by the Ten Commandments, the question of human duty." "Cease to tran- 
scribe," it adds, "upon the statute book what our wisest and best men believed to be the will of 
God, in regard to our worldly affairs, and the passions which we think appropriate to devils 
will soon take possession of society." One hardly knows which most to contemn, the non- 
sense or the dishonesty of such commentaries on another's words. I know no passion more 
appropriate to devils than the passion for gross misrepresiuitation and libel. And others, from 
whom more fairness might have been expected, have not failed to represent me as arguing, or 
affording ground of aryunit^nt, against human laws to enforce the moral laws of the Deity. Such 
persons knew my meaning very well. They chose to |:>ervert and misrepresent it. That is all. 

In classical times, there was a set of small, but rapacious critics, denominated caplatores verbo- 
rwn, who snatched and caught at particular expressions; expended their strength on the disjecta 
membra of language; birds of rapine, who preyed on words and syllables, and gorged them- 
selves with feeding on the garbage of phrases, chopped, dislocated, and torn asunder, by them- 
selves, as flesh and limbs are by the claws of unclean birds. Such critics are rarely more dis- 
tinguished for ability in discussion, than for that manly moral ffeling which disdains to state an 
adversary's argument otherwise than fairly and iruly, and as he meant to be understood. 

But other gentlemen, of much more acquaint:ince with New Mexico, than I can pretend to, 
have exfiressed the same opinion as I have done, in respect to the natural causes which must 
forever exclude slavery from that country ; and it has I'een thought remarkable that an intelli- 
gent field officer in the American army, in writing a private letter to a friend here, dated at Santa 
Fe, the capital of New Mexico, two days before my speech was delivered, that is, on the 5th of 
March, should have used this language: 

" We have no papers later than the President's message. I fancy Congress is debating aliout 
slavery in New Mexico, wharc sldvery is proliibilcd by a stronger than all human laws — the law nf 
climate, and production, and self-interest- Not more than a hundredth part of New Mexico could 
ever be cultivated, if water were ever so plenty, such is the soil, topography, and rock of this 
land. But in the centre of a vast area, witliout large bodies of water, the rocky surface send- 
ing what little water falls upon it rapidly down to the ocean, under an atmosphere ever thirsty, 



into which evaporation is marvellously rapid, not more than one part in two hundred and fifty 
can ever be improved.'' 

And now, gentlemen, I have one other consideration to hrinj; to your minds; and that is, 
that the slavery of tlie African race does not exist in New Mexico; that it is altogether abol- 
ished ; that there is not a single Afiican slave to be found among any of its mountains, or in 
any part of its vast plains. And the [teople of Mexico, to a man, are opposed to slavery; their 
State of society rejects it; the use of cheaper labor rejecis it ; the opinions, the sentiments, and 
feelin£;s of the people, all reject it, as warmly and decidedly as it is rejected by the people of 
Maine. 

And it appears to me just about as probable that African .slavery will be introduced into New 
Mexico, and there established, a.'^ it is that the same slavery will be established on Mars' Hill, 
or the eide of the White Mountains. 

Among the maxims left us by Lord Bacon, one is, that when seditions or discontents arise in 
the State, the part of wisdom is, to remove, by all means pos.sible, the causes. The surest way 
to prevent discontents, if the times will bear.it, he says, is to takeaway the matter of them; for 
if there be fun] prepared, it is hard io tell whence the spark shall come that shall set it on fire. 
So counsels Lord Bacon; but with us there are other advisers. Although the dispute be obvi- 
ously altogether unimpm'tant, and although ifce times will well bear the tajving away of the mat- 
ter of it, their patriotic ardor still admonishes us to continue the contest — to fight it out; if the 
oyster be gdiie, still to make fierce battle for the shell; nor give up the warfare, till we obtain 
a joyful victory, or shall nobly fall. 

Gentlemen, I will conclude this letter by a short reference to one other topic. A good deal of 
complaint has been manifested, as you know, on account of the opinions expressed in my speech 
respecting Texas, and the legal construction and etlecl of the resolutions by which she became 
annexed to the United States. Surprise and astonishment, and all the eloquence of capital let- 
ters ami notes of admiration, have been summoned to mark the utterance of such new and start- 
ling sentiments. The truth is, however, that there is nothing new in the whole matter. The 
same view, substantially, of the resolutions of annexation had been taken, again and again, by 
myself and others. 

Gentlemen, 1 voted against the treaty by which these Territories were ceded by Mexico to 
the United States; nnd in open Senate, in a speech made on the 23d of March, 1848, 1 referred 
to Texas and to the resolutions of annexation. The speech was published in the newspapers, 
and circulated in pam[ihlet form, and read by every body who chose to read it. In that speech 
you will find the.se words : 

" Now, sir, I do not depend on theory. 1 ask you and I nsk the Senate and the country to 
look at facts, to see where we were when we made the departure three years ago, and where we 
now are, and I shall leave it to imai{ination to conjecture where we shall be. 

■■ We admitted Texas as one Stain for the present. But if you will refer to the resolutions 
providing for the annexation of Te.xas, you will find a provision that it shall be in the power of 
Congress hereafter to make /our other new States out of Texan territory. Present and pros- 
pectively, therefore, /iue new Stales, sending ten Senators, may come into the Union nut of 
Texas. Three years ago we did that. Now we profiose to rnnke two States ; for, undoubtedly, 
if we take what the President recommends, New Mexico and California each will make a State ; 
so that there will be four Senators. We shall have then, in this new tcrriiory, seven Stales, 
sending/oiir/ccn Senators to this chamber. Now, what vv\\\ be the rolaiion between the Senate 
and the people, or the States from which they come.'" 

You will see ihat here is the same opinion of the meaning of the Resolutions of Annexation, 
expressed nearly in the same words, as are contained in my speech of the 7th of Mar'h last. 
And this only two years ago. But nobody then expressed either surprise or astonishment. 
There was no call to arms, no invocation of the Genius of Liberty, to resist a false construction 
of an act of Congress; no siirriiPig and rousini:: paragra|.hs in the liewspafiers; no patriotic ap- 
peals to the people, and no insane declarations, such as we now hear, that the Texan Resolu- 
tions are utterly void. 

But, gentlemen, I will pursue no further a topic of some little interest to myself, but of no 
great importance to you. or the couiTtry. I leave it, with the single remark, that what was true, 
in respect to the consiruction of an act of Congress in 1848, must be true, in the same case, in 
1850 ; and if an individual, on his own anihoriiy, may declare one act of Congress void, he may. 
with equal profirieiy, alisolve himself from ihe obligations imposed on him by all other acts : and 
his OHth binds him only to the observance of sueh laws as he himself approves. How far .such 
a sentiment is fit to be acted upon by men, or to be instilled into the minds of youth, the coun- 
try must judge. 

But you, and the whole connti y, gentlemen, arc interested most deeply, in knowing what is 
the prospect of a settlement of exi.stinic difficulties. 

On this point, I am happy to say, that I can speak with hope, if not with confidence. I think 



8 

I see indications that the public judgment will, ere long, be brought to bear upon these trouble- 
some and exciting questions, and that the voice of a majority of the people will hush other dis- 
cordant voices. How soon this will happen, I cannot say ; but I fully believe that the floods 
will yet subside, that the troubled waters will return within their banks, and the current of pub- 
lic affairs resume its accustomed and beneficial course. 

I am, gentlemen, your obliged fellow-citizen and obedient servant, 

DANIEL WEBSTER. 

Robert H. Gardiner, esq., and others, Gardiner, Maine. 



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